NORTH JERSEY — Today, September 9, 2022, Congressman Josh Gottheimer received the endorsement of local and state level Korean American elected officials and leaders. In Congress, Gottheimer has worked to support small businesses, combat hate, fight the rise in crimes, and ensure that Korean American voices are heard across North Jersey. He is a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and serves as Co-Chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of 29 Democrats and 29 Republicans who work together to find common ground on tough issues and put country before party.
The Korean American elected officials who endorsed Gottheimer today include NJ Assemblywoman Ellen Park, Palisades Park Mayor Christopher Chung, Closter Councilwoman Jannie Chung, Leonia Councilwoman Joanne Choi Terrell, Fort Lee Councilman Paul Yoon, Fort Lee Councilman Peter Suh, and Tenafly Councilman Daniel Park.
“I am deeply honored to have the support of so many phenomenal, hardworking Korean American elected officials and leaders in North Jersey. A critical part of North Jersey’s strength is our proud Korean American community, which includes so many amazing local leaders, small business owners, and residents, who all work day-in-and-day-out to make our state an even better place to live, raise our families, and create jobs,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer. “In Congress, I will continue to support North Jersey families and business owners, combat hate crimes and all forms of bigotry, and invest in local law enforcement to keep our communities safe.”
“I was proud and excited to support Congressman Gottheimer from the moment he decided to run for office and have had his back since,” said Closter Councilwoman Jannie Chung, a long-time supporter. “Congressman Gottheiemer understands the needs of the Korean American community, from standing up to hate and improving public safety, to supporting small businesses. I am incredibly proud to join with so many other Korean elected officials in endorsing Congressman Gottheimer for re-election.”
Gottheimer’s work to support North Jersey and the AAPI community includes:
Supporting AAPI Legislation: Gottheimer is a member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, American Sikh Congressional Caucus, and Taiwan Caucus. Recently, bipartisan legislation Gottheimer backed was signed into law to help create the first national museum dedicated to preserving the history, culture, and accomplishment of Asian Pacific Americans. He cosponsored a bipartisan resolution expressing support for the goals and ideals of Korean American Day and honoring the 119th anniversary of the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States. Gottheimer also cosponsored the bipartisan Korean American VALOR Act that passed the House and is fighting for its passage in the Senate. It will give thousands of South Korean immigrants who fought in the Vietnam War for the Korean Armed Forces alongside Americans and have become U.S. citizens, access to the same critical medical and home health care that other veterans receive through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Fighting Crime, Combating AAPI Hate, Supporting Law Enforcement: Gottheimer recently introduced new bipartisan, bicameral legislation — the Invest to Protect Act — to make critical, targeted investments in our local law enforcement to help ensure smaller police departments have the resources and training they need to keep themselves and their communities safe. Gottheimer helped pass Rep. Grace Meng’s resolution last Congress to condemn all forms of anti-Asian sentiment as related to COVID-19, and will support the resolution this Congress.
Supporting Small Business: Working closely with Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, Gottheimer helped craft and pass the last COVID package during the last Administration, which included a second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Employee Retention Credit (ERC) loans to help Jersey small businesses and families through a very tough time in our country’s history. In the counties I represent, I’ve helped claw back more than a billion dollars through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to support small businesses.
Making Life More Affordable: Gottheimer launched a new Affordability Agenda for Jersey, to help make life more affordable and to get more money back into Jersey families’ pockets by aggressively addressing our COVID-driven supply chain crisis, combating our dependence on foreign manufacturing, working to get fuel and energy prices down, cutting day- to-day costs like prescription drug and childcare costs, helping cut through red tape and bureaucracy, and cutting taxes for hard-working families, including by reinstating State and Local Tax deduction.
Investing in Infrastructure: Gottheimer helped craft and pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to fix our crumbling roads, bridges, build the Gateway Train Tunnel, invest in NJ Transit and to clean our drinking water, and create millions of jobs a year for the next decade — all without increasing the tax burden on North Jersey families.
